Thursday, 15 May 2008

here come the yummy mummies

It's funny how some places seem to have disproportionate numbers of yummy mummies. The Village certainly does and I've noticed that they are out in force with their bugaboo prams and their white sundresses (how does anyone within a 5 metre radius of a baby manage to wear white and not end up looking like a pro hart canvas?) when the weather is warm. And up until a few days ago it has been warm, unseasonably so. In fact the warmest May in the UK in 177 years. I started to get a tan, though as I wasn't wearing a sundress it was more of a farmers tan. People here go a little bit off kilter when it's hot. They wear very little clothing (which can be alarming and/or blinding when it's a pale englishman with his shirt off) often hanging around in parks in bikinis. And even if the weather gets cooler they still cling to their skimpy clothes in the hope that they can will the weather back to a warmer temp. I overheard one woman telling another that the weather was 'positively tropical', but then it was 20 degrees that day. And then it rains and the temperature drops and normality returns. People start wearing clothes again and smiling.
I fear however that the rain is not the YM's friend. Driven from the park they seek refuge in cafes and shops but they are not as happy as when they are monopolising the swings as they gossip in the park. Talking to a lone YM is permitted but only as a one off. I spoke to one who was worried that her baby girl wasn't crawling yet and she looked positively shocked when I told her not to worry, but then maybe she didn't understand me. Methinks I detected a competitive playgroup. Initiating any kind of conversation with a YM in a group is not welcome and will lead to startled silence and a rebuff ie circling the bugaboo wagons and moving to the climbing frames.
Maybe the YM's are just concerned that my child snorts like a piglet.

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